Floating vertical axis wind turbine: Emerging trends, research gaps, and global roadmap (2030–2050)

This study provides a decision-grade synthesis of floating vertical axis wind turbines (F-VAWTs) for deep-water wind energy, integrating device physics, platform dynamics, farm effects, and bankability over 2012–2025. Standardized searches across Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, Taylor a PRISMA-aligned, motion-aware eligibility cascade and expert adjudication refined this to 123 critical studies. Publication activity rose from one paper in 2012 to a peak of 18 in 2022, then stabilized at 14 in 2023 and 12 per year in 2024–2025, signaling maturation toward fully coupled aero-hydro-servo-elastic modeling. The corpus is dominated by engineering (83) and energy (76) outputs, with growing emphasis on environmental science (42) and mathematics (27), while computer science (5) and earth motion-conditioned array layouts (including counter-rotation and staggered spacing) can accelerate wake recovery while easing cable/tendon demands; and validated digital-twin workflows can shorten design loops and enable condition-based O&M. A phase-gated global roadmap is proposed: standards and pilots (2025–2030), 100–300 MW arrays (2031–2040), and autonomous, resilience-oriented fleets (2041–2050), supported by finance and permitting instruments that de-risk motion-coupled offshore assets.